10 Disney Rides That Tried Way, Way, WAY Too Hard

If you’ve ever gotten off of a Disney ride more confused or bewildered than when you first got on — did it even happen?

We’re known to poke fun at the weird and unusual at Disney from time to time but we have to admit there have been a few times that Disney made us question time and space itself. If you’ve ever gotten off of a ride or attraction wondering “what did I just witness” this post is for you!

When you think of Disney rides, we’re fairly certain your mind is flooded with good memories of happy times, laughter, and quotable attraction scenes.

But not all of the attractions at Disney are created equal, and some of them have made us question their existence. We’ve rounded up a list of the quirkiest rides that Disney tried way too hard to make relevant or fun that just didn’t quite have the anticipated effect they hoped they would have.

Journey Into Imagination with Figment

Do we really have to explain this one? This entire ride is sooo quirky!

Running around a lab with a little purple dragon literally built out of the power of imagination you would think would be enough but no, they really took this ride to a whole other level! Aside from putting your 5 senses to the test, things go from hanging on to sane to absolutely wacky when Figment literally flips the world on you upside down and invites you over to see his “open house”.

Also, just to be extra sure you knew this ride was zany, they’ve included the nightmare fuel of Dr. Nigel Channing’s singing face in the moon, and that is a sight once seen you can’t unsee!

If we have to suffer through it, then you do, too. We’re not sure why Disney World wanted so badly to make this whole thing be an ok ride, but it’s points like this that have the diehard Figment fans BEGGING to have the ride restored to something that resembled its original form.

Mission Space

We don’t know who thought it was a great idea to take a literal space training module and turn it into a ride at EPCOT, but we’d like to talk to you!

If you’re not familiar with what we’re talking about (probably because you’ve done right and heeded everyone’s warnings before riding) Mission Space puts you right in the action of a space flight by placing you literally inside a space simulator to make you feel like you’re truly on mission. While the ride does its best to play to varying stomach strengths between the less intense green mission and more intense orange one, it’s definitely one to be known to turn a few tummies.

Our biggest tip off as we were boarding should have been the literal sick bags strategically placed inside the ride capsule, buuuut alas this ride still remains in EPCOT.

Kitchen Kabaret

Ah, Kitchen Kabaret — this was one EPCOT attraction you either loved, hated, or loved to hate. This attraction took the words “weird” and “quirky” and let imagination run wild, and what resulted was something you just had to see to believe.

This stage show of sorts lasted a few decades at EPCOT as a wild and chaotic look at what vegetables, fruit, and various kitchen foods & objects would look (and sound like) singing parodied popular songs with a certain foodie twist. Was it weird? Sure, but there certainly was an audience who loved and cherished it until it fell victim to a round of updates making way for new experiences and now it only feels like a fever dream.

Jungle Cruise

Jungle Cruise while extremely popular at Magic Kingdom is the one ride you KNOW to take at face value. It’s pretty corny, and punny but it’s consistent.

This is that one cringy ride that you secretly love because it’s chock full of dad jokes that wouldn’t be funny to anyone else anyWHERE else, but, they fit here nonetheless.

Flight of Passage

This is a weird ride from start to finish. I mean, just walking into Pandora itself is pretty weird and feels like you’ve been transported to another planet but the queue for this ride is where the weird truly starts.

I don’t know about you, but they’ve literally built a giant humanoid Na’vi encapsulated in a water tank — and it moves!

When you finally get through the line, past the pre-show, and ready to board, straddling the seat will be half your battle. Once the ride starts, you’ll actually feel the sides of the center seat move in a breathing pattern, because you’re flying on the back of a banshee which we find very WILD!

SIVAKO!

Kilimanjaro Safari

We don’t want to harp on this one too much because it really was a weird blip in the Disney World ride history but the version of Kilimanjaro Safari we know now, wasn’t always in the same form.

The original version of the ride included a scene where poachers were spotted tracking elephants and shots were simulated near the vehicle. Understandably, this rubbed folks the wrong way, and the ride was soon reworked to include a safari minus this upsetting scene. We get that Disney World had good educational intentions on paper behind the original version, but it was a weird quirk that just didn’t land the same way in production.

Carousel of Progress

The inclusion of Uncle Orville in the Carousel of Progress may be a weird event we’ll never come to understand in our lifetimes. The ever-consistent ride that debuted at the World’s Fair decades ago, was brought into Magic Kingdom as a Tomorrowland attraction due to its look at a family through various decades.

But one wacky character we can’t figure out is good ole Uncle Orville. He’s sort of the comedic relief character that pops in from time to time through the scenes to complain about his lack of privacy, or laugh about his genius of the early stages of air conditioning.

Superstar Limo

Over on the west coast, there’s a few other weird rides that come to mind and Superstar Limo kind of tops that list!

This zany attraction probably started out as a cartoonish ride around Hollywood to see the stars but what Disney California actually got as a finished product just fell flat in translation. Riders complained that the ride was just too chaotic for their liking and it was quickly shuttered after a brief stint.

Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

This is a ride that needs no introduction for quirky but might just be one of the  top 3 overall. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride lives up to its name sake and takes you on a chaotic course through Mr. Toad’s adventures.

However, its the end of the ride that’s the nail in the coffin for us because your entire ride leads up to a final stop where a judge sentences you to hell. Whew, thank goodness those doors give way to the end of the ride shortly afterwards because we’re still trying to wrap our heads around what just happened through the whole thing.

The Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management

When someone suggested an update to the classic Enchanted Tiki Room, I don’t think this is quite what they envisioned, but it’s what we got! Under New Management is the shorthand for the short-stinted version of the Enchanted Tiki Room in another form and it was quite the trip.

Most folks (including a few of our team here) didn’t know if actually experienced this updated version or if it was a fever dream of an experience but when Iago from Aladdin and Zazu from The Lion King are put in charge — all bets are off. It opened to quite the divisive reception and thankfully critics didn’t have to stand this version of the attraction too long before a fire led to its untimely demise, and the Enchanted Tiki Room was eventually reverted back to its original form.

We’re always looking out for the latest changes, news, and updates at Disney World to tell you about! Make sure you’re following along with us at AllEars so you don’t miss a thing.

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Which Disney rides would you add to this list? Leave them for us in the comments below!

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